The Backlog

April Fooled

Sun, 01 Apr 2012 21:53:52 +1000

Yesterday, I decided to pull off what I thought was my favorite, and not to mention my best, April Fool’s day prank ever — because I didn’t know that many people would believe it and that I thought everybody’d know it was obviously an April Fool’s joke.

See here, the main reason why I wanted to do such a fool-hearty move was because I wanted to do something bold and daring. I have never really done something such momentous, and the gravity of such a prank I have done was one that is immeasurable as compared to the others I’ve done on the web.

And the fact that people did believe it to be true, was what made me smile. Not only because of the sheer comedy of what it was, but because people really did believe Apple would’ve acquired me. People believed that I was such as good as the mere idols that I look up to today. That prank not only made me chuckle. It made me smile with a touched spirit.

So, if you’re one of the many who did believe I joined Apple, I tell you this solemnly: That stunt I pulled was meant to prank my closest friends, and if you feel offended as such, I’m sorry.

I’d even make it up to you, if you’d like.

And then again, why would Apple hire a kid like me? I don’t even design as well as some others. I mean, it’d be a dream come true if they did, anyway.

Juggling

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:33:37 +1100

To be completely honest, I’ve never actually been paying attention lately to what mattered most to me back a few months ago.

I can still remember the hours’ work, late nights and the sheer enthusiasm I’ve put into making The Backlog what I want it be — my own personal, playground of a space on the internet. All that time and effort now seems to have taken its toll now that I’ve begun to realise how much I’ve been neglecting it.

The Backlog, as it is now, is rotting (as others have said so) with old content. The notions of articles past, the oh-so-few pictures and videos I’ve published and even the mimeographed links I’ve so ripped-off from popular blogs at the time now feel much dated. It’s as if I’ve just tucked them away into a cliché box gathering dust in a cliché attic.

What now? Will I force upon myself a rule as to tend to The Backlog every week, fortnight or once a month at least? Even if I were so dedicated as I was during the youth of my blog where I’ve been writing at least two posts a day, I still won’t have the time (and perhaps, the energy) to do so.

Why? If you’ve been a long-time reader of my blog, or you just so happened to stop by once before reading up and down my past articles, then you probably already know that I direct most of my writing moxie to The Industry. I’m glad I’m still a part of the team, writing articles for the good of design, but because of so, my education and the other things I’ve been so secretly working on, the time and energy spent usually lapses out at the end of the day.

I still have my free time though — time well spent with my family. It’s more than often I get the chance to stay with my brother or eat a wholesome family dinner with everybody.

All in all, I’ve been juggling a lot for these past few months. In fact, it’s in as much that I can’t decide where my own personal self could fit in— The Backlog is now literally, “backlog”. It’s moved to the hypothetical end of the desk, or rather, stored somewhere in a neglected metal drawer, or even, that dusty cliché box mentioned before.

But juggling clowns tend to get better over practice and time right? So, once again, like how I was years back, I’ll dedicate myself once more to curating my blog, and I’ll see if I can juggle a lot more — and hope it won’t all go fumbling down.

Mobile Photography

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:49:02 +1100

This 2012, one of my new year’s resolutions was that I’d like to take more photos.

Ever since I’ve gotten the iPhone 4S and it’s amazing new camera, I began to realise how much of a trend mobile photography has made. Thanks to services like Instagram, Piictu, Path and more — and their wonderful camera filters, the rise of mobile photographers will soon even out (or perhaps out-balance) the population of SLR photographers.

Every photo here was taken with an iPhone 4S and then post-processed with Path’s wonderful camera filters.

365 Days. 1000 Tweets.

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:36:20 +1100

Three hundred and sixty-five days ago, I signed up for Twitter because I wanted to experience something totally new. I was never really into social networking, or at least the notion of it, and back then, I still didn’t even get the concept of Facebook.

Luckily for me, Twitter had one of the simplest user experiences, where you just had to post 140 character messages and follow people that you found interesting. I educated myself about the ideas, pros and cons of social networking through Twitter, and as the days (and tweets) went on, I’ve developed various relationships, friendships and fans of whom I’ve never met before. I have become so attached to Twitter, that in that span of 365 days, I’ve opened the app at least twice a day. In fact, I even persuaded my Mom to keep using it.

What will have I achieved if it wasn’t for Twitter? If I hadn’t signed up, I wouldn’t have established close friends, learnt some new and important things, received a Dribbble invite (of which I highly prize) and most importantly, I wouldn’t have been where I’m standing today.

If Twitter were a being right now, I’d invite it over for dinner, talk about memorable experiences and I’d give it a nice, hand-crafted thank you card.

#thankyou @Twitter, for those 365 days and 1000 tweets.
— CJ Melegrito (@cjmlgrto) December 15, 2011

The Industry

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 22:12:18 +1100

About a month ago I read a tweet from Drew Wilson looking for people who love to write about design.

“That would be me”, I thought, and I responded back with an email stating how much I like writing. I even included a link to my hiatus post just to prove otherwise.

I wasn’t expecting him to reply back, as I’ve done things like this before with others, and still, up until today, I haven’t received any replies from them. But, this time was different; Drew actually replied back, complete with what seemed like an extraodinary vision of a design-centric blog, in which he calls: “The Industry”.

I responded back with a few positive comments, and a suggestion stating, “I’d love to write for The Industry”. Jared, a writer of whom I’ve heard about somewhere on Twitter, then asked me how interested I am in writing for The Industry.

I was really excited. I’ve always wanted to write for a news website, and the fact that it was gravitating towards realism, was giving me an intense mood of enthusiasm. Right after my reply, we exchanged a number of various emails, which took place within the weeks thereafter.

Fast forward to today, The Industry stands now as a design-centric news website, with me included as one of the exclusive writers for the site.

I can’t tell how overjoyed I am to have experienced such a wonderous series of events, and to be a contributing part of The Industry’s team.

So, what does this mean now? Does this mean I’ll be writing full-time over there, leaving my blog to rot until the end of time? No. I certainly hope I won’t do so. But from time to time, I may not be able to tend to my personal blog, as complications may arise (like an overdue article for example) or I simply may be tweaking things around, creating the next iteration of my site’s overall design.

I’d like to personally thank both Jared and Drew, for giving me a chance to take part in such a radical experience.

If you haven’t read my articles yet, or at least haven’t taken a peek at The Industry, I suggest you go and have a look.

Rainy Days

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 23:30:49 +1100

Ever since I was really little, I’ve always loved the rain.

Whenever I experience a slight drizzle or even a week’s worth of heavy rain, I always seem to enjoy the complexity of how rain clouds travel, and the sound every raindrop makes as it hits the roof of my home. The rattle of the roof, the cold, cold breeze, and of course, the dim, humid atmosphere rainy weather makes, are one of my favourite times just to sit down, relax, and probably read a book or two.

I grew up in a rain-prone country, where it rains at least, for almost everyday for half a year. Thus, because of so, there were only two main seasons my country had: A wet season and a dry season.

During the wet season, and since I was still little, I usually ended up watching television, reading something, playing with Legos with my brother or for most of the time, sleeping. Sleeping with the rain out was the most comfortable sleeping experience ever, and I still find it uneasy to sleep during the hot, arid days of the dry season.

Every time the dry season arrived, I always hoped everyday that it would rain, just so I could relax, and sleep really comfortably. It may seem weird, but I really don’t like summer.

Right now, as I am writing this very article, it is raining. The cool, cool breeze is blowing through the window, calling out one of the things I’d want to do today: It is telling me to sleep, sleep now, as summer is nearing once again.

Brand New!

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 21:35:20 +1100

Over the course of 15 months, I’ve redesigned my site’s theme over a dozen times, but for ever major iteration, it’d be a number no higher than six. If you’ve been reading my blog ever since the very inception of it, then you would have at least felt annoyed about why I can’t seem to settle, or choose a design I finally seem to like.

But it is really hard to settle when everything else is evolving, changing and reiterating around you. No, I’m not talking about the winds of change. I’m talking about the web. The web evolves very quickly. If you were able to look at sites between two years ago and today, you can see how fast, and gradual, the web can change.

Though, that doesn’t mean I’ll be redesigning my site every single minute of every day. I just meant that from what I have learned from an evolving web, I learnt that my design has to evolve as well.

On The Design

I was reading Time Magazine the other week, and I saw and realised how much better the reading experience is on a magazine rather than on the web. In this case, Time Magazine’s articles were a joy to read, as there was beautifully aligned text and typography, vibrant colors for each and every article, and wonderful, huge, high-quality photos on full-width pages and articles.

Pull sections like these are also in Time Magazine.

They give readers a chance to take a break from reading the article, and it provides some sort of entertainment with small snippets of info related to the article.

I wanted something like this too, but hacking the style on top of my last theme was going to be a pain.

That was when I decided to start from scratch. You know, just a text-editor and white, blank webpage. I cleared off my workspace, just to get in the zone. The only things that were open in my screen, were Jason Santa Maria’s article on typography, and Trent Walton’s article on Trimming the Fat.

Now, what you see here, is the culmination of most of all of my experiences on web design, and countless hours of work.

Art Direction

Another classic feature Time Magazine has, is that most of all their articles are uniquely designed, or rather, they have their own sort of, unique, personality. Blogs like Trent Walton’s and Jason Santa Maria’s uses Art Direction (and boy, they look great) and because their blogs were open up on my screen, their sites reminded me of how wonderful Art Direction on the web really is.

Trent Walton’s article on workspaces:

The style is amazing. It’s got that do-it-yourself workbench appeal, and the ‘loose’ hanging lettering is a nice touch as well.

Of course, I haven’t implemented some classy Art Direction on this here post, but soon, not to soon, but soon, you’ll see how I’ll implement some Art Direction on my blog.

On Platforms and Gratitude

I love Tumblr. It is, literally, the easiest way to blog, and it even says so on their home page. Not only is it smooth and easy to use, but it is, not in its entirety though, flexible. (It’s hard to explain, but I’d call it flexible, but with restrictions.) I would like to switch to WordPress someday, though, I have blogged once before using so, and I found that it is a pain to create, at least, a simple WordPress theme.

Did you know?

I once designed a Tumblr theme or two. If you’re planning to start up a blog on Tumblr, at least, if you already have a Tumblr blog, why not try and test the themes I’ve made over at the Tumblr theme garden.

Also, if it weren’t for my favorite web designers; Jason Santa Maria, Trent Walton, Tim Van Damme and Maykel Loomans, and their blogs, I wouldn’t have found complete inspiration, and I’d be searching through countless pages on Dribbble, looking for unique and minimal blog designs, and if it weren’t for them and their blogs, I would have stuck to my very first blog theme; a theme that I didn’t even make myself.

So, I sure do hope you enjoy the new look. If you find any bugs, please, take a look at my colophon for details on how to contact me, and I’ll squash those darn bugs.

P.S. The site’s responsive.

Trent Walton on Workspaces

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 20:41:00 +1100

Trent Walton on Workspaces:

“I like the idea of defining certain spaces or postures for specific activities. The sit and click posture taxes my cognitive and creative faculties after too long. It’s hard for my brain to move from reading to writing, designing, troubleshooting, etc., when my body remains stationary. I need to move.”

True indeed. I find it hard to switch from long hours of reading and studying to creating and designing very smoothly, unless I hop out of my chair to have a drink or something.

Oh, and go ahead and read Trent Walton’s fantastic post. Also, the post design is really lovely.

The Great Discontent

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:17:45 +1100

The Great Discontent:

If there’s ever a site I love reading on the actual website itself, it’d be this one. The full-scale images, excellent typography and the wonderful use of huge quotes create the effect of reading through a glossy, well-designed print magazine.

The Great Discontent is a collection of interviews of the interweb’s best creatives. In short: They want to know what makes creative people tick. Also, going through the site’s archives, Garret Murray’s interview was the best.

The Nest

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:54:00 +1100

The Nest is really amazing.

Imagine this: It’s a really cold day, and it’s practically snowing outside. You start to shiver, so you decide to switch on your heater for a little while –and you crank it up to, say, 30 degrees celsius, because you want to feel that heat straight away. Soon, your friend then calls you up, because there’s some special event happening, and your friend says you need to get there, straight away. You then leave in a hurry, forgetting to turn the heater/thermostat off.

I’m sure we’ve experienced something like this, at least once or twice in our life.

That’s where the Nest comes in. The Nest is a thermostat that’s literally been designed by someone that used to work at Apple. In fact, the Nest itself was designed by the same guy that helped invent the iPod, the iPhone and the iPod touches.

An interview of Tony Fadell by The Verge: Cinematography is great.

We’ve all seen what our thermostats look like. They look old, plastic, and they seem rather beige –much like that of old desktop computers as Nilay Patel from The Verge states. But the Nest? No! When you look at this thing, the first thought that’d form in your head would be that it was designed by Apple. The Nest practically looks amazing.

Tony Fadell, the creator of the Nest, worked alongside Apple’s top executives, who helped with creating what we now know as the device that changed the music industry.

Tony Fadell on creating the iPod, in an excerpt from an interview by The Verge:

“It was one foot in front of the other… We were finding our way as we went. There was no grand master plan. But to make fast iterations you had to build on a platform that you weren’t throwing away all the time…”

Of course, the Nest, mainly because of its creator, is truly unique: Not only does it have excellent form, it also has an outstanding world-saving purpose.

The Nest Video itself even has that “Apple” feel to it.

The Nest was meant to replace those old, clunky, ‘dumb’ thermostats, which in fact, controls up to 50% of energy use in your home. What the Nest does, is that every time you adjust the temperature, it learns and programs itself to adapt to how you adjust the temperature.

During the first few weeks of using the Nest, you have to use it as you would normally use a standard, basic thermostat: You have to turn it up when you’re feeling cold sometime during the day, or turn it down whenever you’re feeling toasty. You also have to train it to automatically turn off before you leave work, by doing so yourself. Within the required time –normally about a few weeks, the Nest’ll will know when you’re about to leave work, and when you arrive home.

And in case you forget to turn it off during the first few weeks of “training”, you can turn it off via an iPod, iPhone or iPad app or via a Web server, because the Nest itself can connect to Wi-Fi.

After the programming, there comes another one of its main features: The Nest itself can train you to use your thermostat environmentally-conscious, meaning, it teaches you how to go green.

“As much as the refrigerator, lighting, TVs, computers, and stereos combined. In fact, 10% of all U.S. energy is controlled by thermostats. That’s the equivalent of 1.7 billion barrels of oil per year. But in most homes the thermostat is an unassuming beige box. It doesn’t matter if it’s a manual or complicated programmable thermostat, we do with it what we’ve always done: get up, walk over to it, and change the temperature. Every few hours. Every day. 1,500 times a year.”

The guys that created the Nest really drilled down into the energy saving business. In fact, the guys at Nest say that the Nest apparently manages at most, half your home’s energy bill.

“We still try to save energy, of course. We turn down the thermostat when we can, we don’t set it too high or low. But we’re human. We forget. Until we see our energy bills.”

I could write about the Nest all day, but here’s something you could do: You can read the The Verge’s interview of Tony Fadell, and watch their video, or, you can visit the Nest’s site itself.

The Verge

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 23:10:10 +1100

The Verge:

Remember when I wrote that post about “This is my next Engadget”? (If you haven’t read that yet, please do. It’s okay. I’ll wait.)

Well, fast forward to today, and here it is. The Verge, Josh Topolsky and his team’s brand new project is up and running. It’s one of the most unique websites I’ve ever visited (frankly, it’s unlike any other) and of course, their podcasts are humorous and excellent.

What a Hiatus.

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:50:00 +1100

“Am Buck.”

It’s been a while. In fact, I’ve been gone for about 23 days; three of which I suffered a very exhausting flu which actually got me to start writing again.(More on this in a bit). This hiatus of mine, began straight after Steve Jobs’ death. I didn’t know what to write about then for the days that followed–partly because I felt slightly “demoralised” about that and of course, I spent most of my time reading other people’s experiences and thoughts about Apple’s innovative visionary.

But enough about Jobs; What’s done is done.

The next few days after Steve’s passing, the beginning of holiday’s break was about to draw closer. It was then I decided to shut myself out of technology, and to begin focusing on my work.

The days that then followed were that of non-stop work and education.

It was then at October 12 I began to draw myself back towards technology.It was the day the final version of iOS 5 was released, and of course, for someone that’s been waiting since June, why wouldn’t I install it straight away?

That was when I began tweeting again. I then found myself browsing Dribbble again, and of course, a couple of sites here and there. There was also that occasional blog that I visited, and the Safari Top Sites thumbnail of my blog began to nag me as it rot with old content. After realising that what I was doing was really counter-productive, I then saw a decrease in work, and I then shut myself out again so I could focus on some Serious Work™.

That Serious Work™, was for my colleague, and he wanted me to make a logo for his Reddit group and his online forum. It was then that I got my burst of inspiration, and I concocted a special logo and a bonus illustration ready for him to use. I then uploaded the illustration to Dribbble, and it looks like the community loved it.

The days that followed were just bludge periods.

October 21 arrived. That was the day that changed everything. (Or rather, there was a phone that changed everything.) That was the day I got my shiny new iPhone 4S. It was a gift from my parents, and I thank them so much for such a wonderful device.

You may as well have guessed that the days after that was me spending most of my time using the iPhone. I forgot about the huge computer sitting on my desk and everything else online altogether because of this. So if you will, blame the iPhone for my long-term hiatus.

It was then a few days later, a violent virus hit me (Sorry for the alliteration). I had the Flu, and like any other experiences with the Flu, it was exhaustingly terrible. I spent the day trying to recover, and while I did that, I watched a couple of Apple Keynotes, Apple iPod ads and I read more about Steve and his legacy.

It was then I came across my own article on my iPhone. At first, I didn’t even realize it was my own website. I was reading the “Everything Else is Secondary” article reading one of Steve’s famous quotes. It was when I began scrolling down to the “Making Macaroons” video, I then realized it was my own. Can you believe that? Me and my own blog, face to face together for the first time in 23 days?

I then felt guilty after that–not only because I didn’t even know it was my own blog, but because I haven’t written anything for the past couple of days.

I then pulled myself together after the Flu subsided, and I decided to write this very article.

“Am Buck.”

"Everything else is secondary."

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 22:39:32 +1100

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there.”

“And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.”

“Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.”

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

“Everything else is secondary.”

—-

Steve Jobs at his Stanford Commencement Speech, June 2005.

For Steve

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 18:56:00 +1100

For Steve:

I know I’m kinda late with the eulogies, but I decided to publish it anyway. Just visit it here on my site.

Remembering Steve

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 12:22:44 +1100

Remembering Steve:

The world has lost the most remarkable human being in the history of mankind. I wouldn’t even be where I am right now if it wasn’t for him.

Thank you Steve,for everything.

Predictions, Predictions.

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:18:00 +1100

It’s that time of the year again, isn’t it? We just have to wait a few more hours, and soon, millions of people around the entire web-iverse will either be staying at home, watching it, or out there, talking, tweeting, or perhaps blogging about it.

You don’t know what I’m talking about? Take a look at this.

Yeah, now you know. It’s one of those Apple media events. ~~Steve Jobs~~ Tim Cook will probably up on stage, showing off to the world, what they’ve been working on for the past few months.

And people will love it–but what exactly is it?

Here’s what I think:

Thanks to a couple of sources, and some of my applied common knowledge of Apple’s processes, I think there’s going to be a new iPhone.

(Duh.)

Go ahead and laugh, but focus exactly on what I wrote: “There’s going to be a new iPhone”. There’s only going to be one new iPhone. Even Apple says so.

But, why would you trust one guy and his thoughts on what’s going to happen in the media event? Although, who knows, Apple might release more than just one iPhone.

Version 2

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:17:48 +1100

Version 2:

The most used app on my dock (aside from Safari) is finally out of beta! (In plain English: Espresso 2 is out.)

That's all, Folks!

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 16:53:56 +1000

Writing about food this month was spectacular. Not only did I get to try out new foods, discover great new sites and make great food, I also had an enjoyable time doing so.

But, take a look at the calendar. If you’re reading this on the day I published this, it should say: “October 1”. Oh dear, it’s the end of September already? (We all know what that means…)

I won’t be writing about food anymore–or at least, writing about food for most of the time. I’ll probably write something about some remarkable lunch I had, but no more of those “linked list recipes” or those little rants I had about pasta and oatmeal. Instead, I’ll phase back to this blog’s rightful and true nature; a solemn place where I can write about things I really enjoy writing about.

Although, for those of you who really like reading about food, I’ve lovingly prepared a “Recommended reading list” with a list of great websites where you can read about food. (It’s down below for those of you reading this on my blog)

So, in a few days, don’t be surprised when I start writing about the all-new shiny Apple product that’s coming out, or some random article on why you’re designing wrong, because this post counts as a nice heads-up.(If you read this article a little bit late, don’t think that I’ve turned the iPhone into a meal).

You know, I really wish September had a few more days, because I’ve probably got around 5-10 queued posts with awesome recipes. But now, since it this really is reality (with September having only 30 days), it’s time to pack up the table.

Oh, and now that we’re done eating, who’s going to clean the dishes?

Desserts

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 16:52:00 +1000

Ah, desserts.

They say we spoil our appetite if we eat dessert first. Sometimes we even fast-eat past the main course just to have a bite of that soft, delicious Macaron, or that delectable Mamon I showed you how to cook earlier.

The term desserts comes from the French word desservir, which means to ‘clear the table’. Also, if you’ve wondered before what the first ever dessert was, it was the highly unbelievable ice cream (which apparently dates back as far as 3000 BC).

But obviously, ice cream isn’t the only dessert on the planet–and like any other human on the planet, we’ve at least tried almost every popular dessert, albeit at least once. So, here I am… (cue line about me saying: “here’s some desserts you’ve never tried.”)

Pear Cake: It’s actually more delicious than it looks. The recipe, adapted from Canal House Cooking, was re-invented by Sharon Hwang and Mike Matas of My Cooking Diary.
Cherry Amandines: Trust me, you’ve never seen this kind of dessert before. The Cherry Amandines is a delicious mix of almonds, mascarpone and of course, cherries. The sweet and savoury mix of butter and the rest of the other ingredients make this a perfect dessert straight after a long dinner. The Cherry Amandines recipe comes from the famous food blog, La Tartine Groumande.
Apple Lasagne: Strange by its name, but the ingredients itself tell a surprisingly different story; the lasagne itself has a cheese filling, with a topping that consists of flour, oats, sugar and cinnamon.
Cherry Soup: This’ll obviously taste great as the recipe also comes from La Tartine Groumande. The exciting mix of pitted cherries, ice cream and syrup is a really good combination, although no surprise, is actually very sweet.

So, now that you’ve got your head filled with these crazy dessert recipes, go ahead and try one of them.

This desserts article should end the series of the recipe linked lists, as I’ve covered almost every kind of meal one would have in a day.

Credits: The Pear Cake recipe comes from My Cooking Diary, the awesome Cherry Amandines concoction and the Cherry Soup both come from La Tartine Groumande, and of course, the Apple Lasagne recipe comes from CD Kitchen.com.